India’s Essar Group will not finalise the acquisition of Warid Telecom’s Ugandan and Congolese operations, Reuters reports.
But the Indian group was quoted denying media reports that it was looking to sell its Kenyan mobile business.
In November 2009,…
India’s Essar Group will not finalise the acquisition of Warid Telecom’s Ugandan and Congolese operations, Reuters reports.
But the Indian group was quoted denying media reports that it was looking to sell its Kenyan mobile business.
In November 2009, Essar Group agreed to buy a majority stake in Warid Telecom Africa from the Abu Dhabi Group for a combined enterprise value of US$318m.
TelecomFinance reported that the Abu Dhabi Group had mandated Standard Chartered to sell its stake in Warid Telecom Africa.
Now, Essar has that both parties have decided not to proceed with the transaction, since certain precedents pertaining to government clearance were not met.
The Economic Times quoted two sources who said that Essar had decided not to go ahead with the agreed acquisition in Uganda and Kenya, adding that it was looking for a buyer for its Kenyan business, which it was willing to sell for about US$300m.
According to Reuters, Essar said it remained committed to the African market and was satisfied with its operations in Kenya.
Essar Telecom Kenya operates under the Yu brand. It competes with Safaricom, Orange Kenya and Bharti Airtel.
Essar did not reply to a request for comment before press time.
